Five insurance companies that had offered coverage in the Affordable Care Act marketplace have told Arizona regulators that they will opt out or scale back coverage when the next open season for Affordable Care Act coverage begins Nov. 1.

Thwarted in earlier attempts, Republican supporters of a program to provide health insurance to the children of the working poor outmaneuvered their own leadership Thursday night to have the measure given approved by the House.

In my five decades of providing medical care to Arizona children, I have realized that Medicaid (AHCCCS) and KidsCare (Arizona’s version of a Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP) are critical for low-income families. KidsCare has been frozen since 2010, and the Legislature now has the opportunity to include lifting the freeze in their budget negotiations, while the federal government picks up the tab.